Lana Gets Her Talk (2017)

A cinematic observation of Indigenous artist Lana Whiskeyjack as she works to complete a mixed-media sculpture of a tortured face, the face of her uncle. Lana calls the piece 'Losing My Talk'. This brief study of an artist and her work is a creative medium through which we can come to some understanding of the trauma experienced by Canada's Indigenous people in the Indian Residential School system, of its enduring effects on the children of survivors of the IRS, and of one woman's journey to recover what was lost: dignity, identity, and voice. A story of resilience, Lana's journey speaks of the power of Indigenous "ways of being" in our time.